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Have you ever thought about where puddles come from and where they go? Water is recycled in a continuous water cycle with no beginning or end. We won’t ever get more than we already have on Earth.Read on below to see how this amazing cycle works.

KS2

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A puddle is a pool of liquid that forms on the ground, normally after it has rained. It is generally shallow enough for you to walk through and mainly forms when there is a dip in the surface. The size of puddles vary depending on how wide and deep this dip is.

Have you ever thought about why you see more puddles on roads and footpaths than on the grass? Let’s see if you can work out why…

1. What is a Puddle?

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When the sun comes out, it heats up the puddles of water on the ground. These water droplets begin to turn into steam and become a vapour (gas). As a gas, the droplets become lighter and float up to the sky.This process is called evaporation. Water doesn’t only enter the water cycle from puddles. The sun also heats up water found in rivers, lakes and oceans over time and these droplets also evaporate into the sky.

2. Where do puddles go?

As the steam floats up higher into the atmosphere, it begins to get colder and starts to turn back into water droplets. As this process happens, the droplets begin to form what we see as clouds in the sky. This is called condensation. When the water droplets in the clouds get too heavy, they fall back towards the Earth in different forms such as rain, snow, sleet and hail.This is called precipitation.

3. What happens to the water vapour?

Much of the water that returns to Earth runs off the surface of the land and flows downhill into streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. This is called runoff. The water can also fall directly into rivers, lakes etc. Sometimes the water droplets land on parts of the Earth where they can seep into the ground through the soil and rocks and form underground water supplies (infiltration). Others may also begin to form puddles again.

4. Can puddles form again?

See for yourself!Try out activities

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KS2

Can you spot the

water cycle happening

around you?

How quickly can you

name and draw the

main stages of the

water cycle?